State law allows unlimited Class II casinos
The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians, based in Medford, Oregon, have offered to pay off the Coquille Indians to keep them from opening a Class II casino.
According to KOBI-TV, Medford’s NBC affiliate, the Cow Creek Indians have offered to pay the Coquilles 110 percent of the value of their Medford properties, saying a Medford casino could hurt the Rogue Valley economy. The Coquilles disagree. Though they have not commented publicly on the matter, the tribe has indicated in the past that it is intent on developing a casino in the community. The Coquille have expressed no interest in the Cow Creek offer.
Now Cow Creek CEO Michael Rondeau says the tribe can’t develop a casino anyway, because the land in question is not Coquille land at all. “It’s a jurisdictional issue,” he told KOBI. “Douglas, Josephine and Jackson County are our aboriginal territories, the territories that historically where our ancestors have grown up and lived.” The Cow Creek Band has expressed concern that a Medford casino would negatively affect the economic security and sustainability of its people. A Medford casino could also take away more than $29 million per year from the Oregon State Lottery.
“We’re not in a situation where we can actually just allow this to happen. We have a responsibility to our membership, we have needs,” Rondeau said. “We’ve got to try to protect what we do have for the membership we have as well as the community.”
The Cow Creek Band has appealed for help to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Meanwhile, the Coquille tribe is proceeding to seek trust land where a casino could be built. “We’re going to grow the casino consistent with the community that’s around us, involve the community around us,” said Chief Ken Tanner.
In Oregon, each Indian tribe is allowed a single Class III casino, but an unlimited number of Class II casinos. The Coquilles now operate the Mill Casino in North Bend, and the Cow Creek have 7 Feathers in Canyonville.
